Humidity control apparatus for refrigerators



Sept. 18, 1951 J. s. BOOTH 2,563,268

HUMIDITY CONTROL APPARATUS FOR REFRIGERATORS Filed Oct, 1, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 a um If 1? v "m M I I John 61 @500? 2/ INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Sept. 18, 1951 J. s. BOOTH HUMIDITY CONTROL APPARATUS FOR REFRIGERATORS Filed Oct. 1, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 John 5. Boot/ 1 v.rr lllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllll llllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllllllll INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Sept. 18, 1951 J. s. BOOTH 2,568,268

HUMIDITY CONTROL APPARATUS FOR REFRIGERATORS Filed Oct. 1, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet s l 17 mm; :0:

IE! MOTOR John 500 z/7 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Sept. 18, 1951 .1. -q. BOOTH 2,568,258

HUMIDITY CONTROL APPARATUS FOR REFRIGERATORS Filed Oct. 1, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 ml lm' lu l /5; A l

m wwe ohn S Boozh INVENTOR.

Sept. 18, 1951 J, 5, BOOTH 2,568,268

HUMIDITY CONTROL APPARATUS FOR REFRIGERATORS Filed 001:. 1, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTORNEY IN V EN TOR.

John 5. Boof/I Iii.

m i I? w Patented Sept. 18, 1951 UNITED STATES OFFICE 2,568,268 HUMI'DIT'Y JGO'NTROL Laws-Bares FOR REFRIGERATOR-s J'ohn S. Booth, Dallas, Ap'piieatisn center 1,1949, seriamo. 119152 2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to refrigerating equip;-

iiient and more particularly to refrigerated food display and storage cases; p

s The principal objector" the invention is to provide a refrigerated case especially "designed to "prevent dehydration or desiccationanddiscolora- Itioh of fresh meats stored therein by causing forced Circulation of refrigerated air around the iood storage compartment and isolating from the latter the refrigerating coils, thus to prevent, jeit'cept in extreme cases, contact with the coils of extrema-air admitted into the storage compartiri'ent through heat leakage or by" opening the doors of the case. In this manner, frosting of the coils and consequent absorption of moisture in thestorage compartment is 'o'bviate'd, thereby preventingdehydration or discoloration of meats therein or in restoring moisture and "color "to meats which have previously "been deprived thereof. v V v s 7 Another object of the invention is to provide arefri'gerating case, especially for meats in which a continuous duct or passage is provided for frefrigerated air about the storage compartment,

thprovision, in the formof dampercontrolled op'enings between the passage and compartment,

admitting into the latter refrigerated 'air from the passage only in cases when frequent o ening of the doors of the case cause excessive jco'ndensation'of moisture on the inner wall-surfaces of the storage compartment, resulting in overnioisturization of the contents of the latter.

V dther objects will appear as the description 'oceeds taken in connection with theacc'oi'nnspiring drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a;front perspective'view of areiifigerated display case in which theinvention is "incorporated.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view thereof.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view. Figure 4 is a-fragmentary view showing one 'hf 'th-e'dampered vents between the refrigerated air passage and food storage compartment of the as Figure-5 is a diagram of the wiring for tl'ie illu-'- initiating and air'circulating'means within the case.

{Figure 6 illustrates schematically therefrige'ratin'g system of the case.

Figure '7 is a front perspective view of a walk-- 'in type refrigerator to which the invention is also adaptable.

"Figure 8 is a sectional view ofthe refrigerator duct.

"*withthe top removed'to "revealthe closed air ,7

(Cl:.62"-$l02) Figure 9 a 'vertical sectional view takenon of Figure 8. V Figure -10 us :a sectional view taken on :Iihe 1 0 40 of-Figure '8. s

Figure I 1 is a "detail view of the circulating rfan and circuit, and

Figure 1-2 1s a s'chematic view of the refrigerat ing-system. v V

Continuing with a more detailedvdeseriptioncof the drawing, reference numeral m :denotes agenerany the insulated .:case :Which may be wofl any -desired external shape I or; design. Asishownr the case is of the display :type, having ;a,=g1a ss front ll and upper and lower rear doors 12. Suitable merchandise supporting racks I3 are {arranged within the food storage cdmpartment-of the ca;s e. Si-irrounding the food Istorage compartment longitudinallys-is a continuous airgduct 114. This duct is defined rbyzspacingrthe {end walls, top and abottom of the storage icompartment ;-i3rom :the ends, top ian'dzbottom of :bhe case and by sealing off the passage thus-formed from the interior of ith'ezfood compartment so that there will-be ino exchange of air between the compartn' fint :and passage except under such circumstances as will she presentl-y described.

I flhatzportionpf the continuous airduct li extending along the bottom of .the foodstarage fcompartment is jdeeper :than the J-remaining por- -tion thereof in order "to define a refrigerating a-oompartment and to accommodate a refrigerat- :ing coil t5, composed of flattened 'tconvolutions {and extending nearly the full length: of the refrigerating compartment.

:At one ends-of vthe refrigerating ;-compartment i: is disposed an ;-air :circulating gunit composed-pf amotor 4 6: (Fig. 5) ,I-and on:each aendof its;arrna -ture shaft is 1 mounted ya {blower H. A thermo- 2 staticeswiteh i8 is? arranged: in the motor circuit l9 and is adapted to open and close the motor a circuit when required by: changes ;-in; temperature :w-ithirrthe duct M;-determined by the bulb-ZII,- d-isposedeadj acent? the air-intake of one5 ofsthe blow- -ers 1' I I. ln-Figure 5:-is:also revealed the: 'circniit;' !l which istadapted to energizethe fluorescent-light- :--ing-- fixture 22 which is mounted: along the vtop of thefront panel-of the case. Y 7 In Figure 6 is shown schematically the re- :frigerating system ,ofthe invention which, being conventional and .amply inscribed withQidentirymgyw r mg, is. considered js'elf eiiplanat y.

s small open" jisgtprovi'ded at pnefend jdftne stor ge cdrfipart en't through'which access ,':is nae to ai'swith'i-zzai nrentoritro s 'tne eireuit 55 to "an expansion "valve "221), i the latter, 'in -tin'n,

amass 3 being controlled through a bulb 22c, disposed adjacent one end of the refrigerating coil 15. The switch opening however remains closed by a hinged plate 23a which is opened only to operate the switch 22a.

Adjacent the top of the storage compartment at each end is an opening 23. These openings constitute the only communication between the compartment and the air duct l4 and are closed at all times by pivoted dampers 24, except on rare occasions when excess condensation occurs on the walls of the storage compartment, caused by too frequent opening of the doors [2 of the case. When this occurs, the dampers 24 are opened slightly to allow a small amount of refrigerated air to pass from the duct [4 into the storage compartment. However, it is not recommended that these vents 23 be left open for long periods, due to the fact that air admitted to the storage chamber from outside the case will enter the duct I4 and cause frost to accumulate on the coil l5. This is a condition which is objectionable in conventional meat refrigerating cases in which the coils are exposed to the air in the storage compartment as Well as outside air admitted to the compartment and, as a consequence, frost accumulates on the coils, drawing moisture from the air, thereby dehydrating and discoloring the meat in the case.

The invention successfully overcomes the above condition since no air which enters the case I through heat leakage or through opening of the doors [2 can reach the coil I and therefore no frost can accumulate. When the doors are opened, fresh warm air is admitted to the case and as this new air cools, it condenses and adds more humidity to the air already in the case, with the result that dehydration is entirely eliminated or reduced to the absolute minimum.

In Figures '7 to 12 inclusive the invention is shown as being adapted to a walk-in type of refrigerator. The same principal is involved although the closed air circulating duct, instead of embracing the ends, top and bottom of the case, is'confined to the area of the ceiling of the case.

Reference numeral 25 denotes generally the insulated case which has a door 26 in one end.

Around the walls of the case adjacent the ceiling thereof is a continuous air duct 21, through which air is caused to circulate by means of a fan 28, operated by a motor 29. Disposed forwardly of the fan 28 is a refrigerating coil 30 across which the air is constrained to flow in its course through the duct 21.

The heat of the storage compartment A of the refrigerator is absorbed from the heat of the duct'2'l and the centrally-disposed communicating duct 3|, into which the circulating air is influenced from the duct 21 by a curved baflle 32 (Fig. 8)-.

During normal operation, the ducts 21 and 3| are closed to the storage compartment A of the case so that warm air admitted to this compartment when the door'thereof is opened will not reach the coil 30 and cause frost to accumulate thereon. This is a condition sought to be avoided because of the tendency of the frost to absorb moisture and deprive the storage compartment of the proper humidity. However, there will be occasions when the door of the storage compartment will be opened frequently. During these periods excess amounts of warm air will enter the storage compartment, causing undue con- 4 this condition the duct 21 is provided with spaced vents 33 which effect communication between 4 the ducts and storage compartment A and by opening hinged dampers or closures 34 for these vents, the temperatures in the ducts and storage compartment may be brought into better balance by admitting cold air into the compartment from the duct and thus obviate sweating 0n the walls of the compartment. The vents 33 are required to be closed as soon as excess sweating, as described, has been eliminated.

To prevent condensate accumulating on the duct 3| from dripping onto the contents of the storage compartment A, the duct is formed with a V-shaped bottom, as shown in Figure 9, to converge the flow of water into a trough 35 suspended therebelow, which trough conveys the water to an end of the compartment and away from the contents of the case.

Thermostatic control of temperature in the duct 21 is accomplished through the medium of a bulb 36 disposed in the air-stream adjacent the fan 28, which bulb actuates a thermostatic switch 31 in the fan circuit. A bulb 38 disposed adjacent the refrigerating coil determines the operating periods of the refrigerating system shown-in Figure 12, through the medium of an expansion valve 39, access to which is had through a door 40 in one wall of the duct 21 (Fig. 8).

It is apparent from the foregoing that meats which have been partially dehydrated when placed in the case are actually reconditioned, that is to say, further drying is suspended and the natural color thereof restored.

Manifestly, the construction as shown and described is capable of some modification and such modification as may be construed to fall within the scope and meaning of the appended claims is also considered to be within the spirit and in tent of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a walk-in type refrigerator, a storage compartment, a door therefor, a continuous air circulating duct in juxtaposition to the side and end walls of said refrigerator adjacent the top thereof, a longitudinal duct disposed between and parallel with the portions of said air circulating duct lying along the side walls of said refrigerator and effecting communication between the portions of said air circulation duct lying along the ends of said refrigerator, said continuous and longitudinal ducts being in thermal contact with said storage compartment but normally out of communication therewith, a refrigerating coil in said continuous duct, means for circulating air in said ducts and means for admitting limited quantities of cold air into said storage compartment from said continuous duct to dispel excess moisture condensation set up by ingress of external air into said storage compartment.

2. In a refrigerator, a storage compartment having a door, a continuous, normally closed air duct within said refrigerator and extending along the end and side walls of said refrigerator in the top thereof and in heat exchange relationship with said storage compartment, means for circulating air in said duct, a refrigerating coil also in said duct, a normally closed opening in each of densation on the walls of the latter. To minimize 15 tion resulting from said external air, a longitu- 5 dinal duct in said refrigerator of substantially V shape in transverse section and connecting the end portions of said continuous duct one to the other, bafiie means for influencing air from said continuous duct into said longitudinal duct and means for receiving and draining ofl moisture of condensation collecting on the walls of said longitudinal duct.

JOHN S. BOOTH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Baker Feb. 20, 1934 Vandoren Feb. 22, 1938 Atchison Nov. 21, 1939 Sparks Feb. 13, 1940 Kalischer June 9, 1942 Grooms Apr. 18, 1944 

